INTRODUCTION:-

This is a brief review of the Biopic movie,’ 12 Years a Slave’. This movie was directed by Steve McQueen. It was released on 30 August 2013 during Telluride Film Festival. The Genre of the movie is Biopic, Drama, and History. The lead role of Solomon Northup is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. And the total runtime of the film is 134 minutes. It was a hit at the box office with an entire collection of $187.7 million against its budget of around $22 million.

REVIEW:-

This movie is based on the slave memoir of Solomon Northup, Twelve Years A Slave(1853). The name of the film is unchanged and tells us the story of Solomon and his 12 years which he spent as a slave in various plantations. Solomon Northup was a New York State Free African-American Man who was also a Violinist by profession. He used to live with his wife and 2 children in Saratoga Springs, New York. In the year 1841, he was offered a lucrative offer by two men named Brown and Hamilton. The condition was that he had to travel with them to Washington, D.C. He agreed to the terms, but when they reached Washington, D.C, he was drugged and sold to a man named Burch, who used to run a Slave-Pen. He realized both Brown and Hamilton were no Businessmen, they were Cons.

Solomon was in an unfamiliar situation now. He claimed he was a free man, but nobody listened to him. Instead, he was beaten whenever he talked about it. Seeing this, the fellow slaves advised him that it is better to not tell anyone about you being a Free Man, and get accustomed to being a slave. Solomon was sold to a plantation owner named, William Ford. He was a decent person as compared to other plantation owners. He treated him well and also provided him with a guitar when he came to know he was a Violinist. Then, we can see some tension between Solomon and the carpenter in the field, named John Tibeats. They have a fight, started by John, as it can be clearly seen, he doesn’t like Solomon. John and his group try to beat Solomon, in return, Solomon loses his temper, beats him, and even whips him with his belt. He hits him real hard, and it feels like all that frustration is exploding out on John. 

Solomon knew he had to face the consequences of this. John and his gang try to hang him to death, but they are not successful, and they just leave him there, hanging for hours until Master Ford comes and cuts him loose. To save him, Master Ford sells him to another plantation owner. Solomon asks for his help to reach out to his family in New York, but Ford denies by saying he is afraid, and this is the best he can do for him.

The new plantation owner named Edwin Epps is a ruthless person. Ruthless is the correct word for him as his slaves honestly describe what we have read about the condition of slaves. There is a female slave named Patsey on his farm. She used to work twice as hard as any other slave, but what she gets in return? Rape. Yes, he used to rape him regularly. There is a scene where Patsey goes to the next plantation to get soap for herself, but Edwin can’t let that happen. He is infuriated over this and orders Solomon to whip her. 

Solomon doesn’t want to, but eventually, he does. There, he can see scars of previous whips on her back. Her whole body was filled with those, and it can be inferred from this, that he used to beat her before also. Maybe even regularly. That is a heartbreaking scene, but a reality for slaves at that time.

Now, after a while, Solomon can be seen, working in the construction of a gazebo with Canadian labour named Samuel Bass. He asks for his help to get out from there. Samuel is afraid to help him, but finally, he agrees. After, a few weeks, we can see two men coming along with the local sheriff to Edwin’s farm. The local sheriff calls for Platt, a name given to Solomon when he was traded for the first time. The sheriff asks him some questions which he answers correctly. He notices one of the men who came along with the sheriff is Mr. Parker, a shopkeeper he knew from Saratoga. He had come a long way to save him. Although he is happy that he is free now, when they are about to leave, he notices the helplessness in the eyes of Patsey and other slaves, to whom help will never come. That is another heartbreaking moment. I wanted him to take all the slaves with him, but that cannot happen, as there was a legal agreement regarding the ownership of the slaves.

When he meets his family, it is a very emotional moment, his wife has tears in his eyes. His boy is all grown up. His daughter is married and has a boy, named after him, Solomon Northup Staunton. They comfort him, and it is a very emotional scene. After all this, in the post-credits, it can be seen that Solomon filed a suit against Brown and Hamilton, and he was also a part of the abolitionist movement.

RATING:-

This movie has every emotion one could expect in a drama movie-betrayal, helplessness, frustration, and anxiety. Chiwetel is such a great actor, and this movie is his best one to date. If you need more reason to watch this movie let me tell you, it was nominated for 9 academy awards and won three of them. Also, it has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture- Drama. It’s a must-watch, such a masterpiece.